Movie Reviews

A criminally overlooked anime gem!

Stephanie Crawford | Las Vegas, NV | 01/02/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When you hear about the great anime series you always hear the staples: Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Escaflowne, etc etc. But I've never heard of "Tsukikage Ran", and if it wasn't for seeing the trailer on a DVD I still would be unaware of this clever, hilarious, fun and almost flawless series.

Set in the Edo period, this series follows a mysterious ronin who goes by Ran... who just happens to be a saki loving woman! This is such a great twist in the series that makes it stand out. One of the best parts in many of the episodes is seeing her step in to protect someone in a fight, seeing her enemies laugh and brush her off as a "weak female", then see her calmly and quickly take them out with her sword. She's quite happy to wander the countryside alone, but one day she interferes in a fight and a young martial artist Myao (who also happens to be female) is so impressed by Ran's skill that she sort of follows her throughout the rest of the series- much to Ran's displeasure. Unlike Ran, Myao's a typical anime girl sterotype: very hyper, not too bright, and she dresses right out of a Tekken game. This mismatched twosome make a hilarious pair to watch episode after episode, as they balance each other out nicely and play off the others weak points.

The cover makes this look like a typical fighting anime, and while there IS a good amount of great fighting sequences, this is mainly a comedy/parody of those types of anime. You'll be laughing throughout most of the series, though some of the episodes do tackle more serious fare.

The DVD set istelf is nicely done, the discs are held in a Amaray case wide enough to fit 4 discs. It's not the most attractive packaging, but it keeps the discs safe & scrath-free. The tranfers are perfect, and all the episodes have the original Japanese track with well done subtitles and there's an alternate English dubbed track that is also surprisingly well done.

The extras are sparse- previews, gallery- but we do get a cool one called "liner notes" that gives historical background information about various events and people mentioned in the series. This is very helpful for those of us not well versed in ancient Japan. All in all, this set is a great deal and a must for every anime fan! The only drawback is this amazing series is only 13 episodes long."

Carried by the wind indeed

T.R | 01/17/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I had never heard of Carried By The Wind: Tsukikage Ran, before I bought the complete collection, and so I didn't quite know what to expect. I was used to cartoons that, as each episode progressed, got closer to an overall plot. I was used to watching cartoons with a protagonist who fought throughout the series, up until the final episode, to defeat his/her nemesis. However, Tsukikage Ran really surprised me. Carried by the wind indeed. Each episode in this series is completely independent of previous episodes. The only constant factor about each episode was the main characters Ran and Meow, and their budding (whether they knew it or not) friendship. Each episode had a different antagonist, and there was never any mention of events or actions that took place in past episodes. Carried By The Wind is basically about the life of a sake addicted samurai who wonders around as if she were "carried by the wind". A samurai who, in every town she drifts into finds corruption and with the help of simple minded, yet light hearted Meow triumphs over the corruption. The friendship between Meow and Ran got off to a bumpy start, but as time progressed (and as Meow constantly helped Ran out when she was low on cash, especially at local inns, or bars)the friendship between Meow and Ran worked itself out."

Samurai spoof is quite good

A. Alegria | Industry, CA United States | 11/08/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hi, I have seen the episodes of Tsukikage Ran when they were sold individually. I assume that this DVD transfer is the same just repackaged into a brick type collection. The transfer I saw were pretty good ones.

What it is about: It is about a female wandering samurai, yeap, female samurai is the first absurdity you find in this series. She links wiht another spunky martial arts expert girl and together they form the odd couple. Sort of Xena and Gabriel on the road adventures, only much less dark.

Our female samurai hero is sometimes serious, except whenever sake is around. Then she cuts loose. She is constantly broke and has to struggle to buy her next drink of sake.

The series is episodic, 13 episodes in all. There is no main arch story, except to spoof every thing about the samurais and or feudal Japan. So every episode is a single adventure that you can say stands on its own. They will face an enemy/ies and defeat him/her/them, after some clowning around, and a few drinks of sake of course.

Funny spoof situations are only one dimension of the series The serious moment will soon come when a samurai sometimes has to pull his, or her, sword out. The sword fights, I felt, are well choreographed, much better than the martial arts fights. Ran is indeed a tough customer, most enemies will misjudge her because she is a woman, till they get owned.

Sword and Martial arts action with buddies on the road humor, that is how I would summarize it. At this price, I recommend you to buy it.